Meet Rob Scuderi

Hockey player Rob Scuderi plays in the season opener between the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks on January 19.

The kings of hockey are back! Last year, the Los Angeles Kings hockey team won its first Stanley Cup after 45 years. The Stanley Cup is the trophy awarded every year to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff winner. Now the Kings have raised their championship banner and started a new season.

Hockey season usually starts in September or October. But this year all the teams in the NHL sat out much of the season due to a lockout. A lockout occurs when the players and the league disagree on items like player contracts and salaries. During a lockout, games get cancelled. Sometimes the whole season gets cancelled! Fortunately, an agreement was finally reached so fans can now watch their favorite game once again.

The hockey season opened on January 19 with a game between the LA Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks, in Los Angeles, California. The Blackhawks beat the Kings 5-2.

TFK caught up with Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi, who scored the team’s first goal in 2013, at a practice session. He revealed how he started playing hockey, what he loves most about the game and what career he’d choose if he wasn’t a hockey player.

TFK:

When did you start playing hockey?

ROB SCUDERI:

I was six years old when I first started playing. My father, my younger brother and I all started playing hockey at the same age. We went to a couple of public sessions and the next year my father signed my brother and me up. Both of us have been playing ever since.

TFK:

What do you love about playing hockey?

ROB SCUDERI:

I love the sport, first of all. But I guess the thing I like the most is the fact that you're part of a team and that all the guys on the ice are working together to try to achieve one thing. I love that it's not just about you, but about your teammates as well.

TFK:

What is most challenging about it?

ROB SCUDERI:

I'm an older guy in the locker room, but I still have to try to push myself to be better. That’s the challenge, but it's also the fun part.

TFK:

How did it feel to win the Stanley Cup twice?

ROB SCUDERI:

It was pretty awesome; I'm not going to lie! A lot of people say, the first time is the most special. But I know when that buzzer went off, and I was part of another team winning a Stanley Cup, I felt pretty special again.

TFK:

How do you feel about this Saturday’s season opener? How does it feel to be back?

It feels great to be back. During the lockout, we all felt a bit out of sorts. It was the first time since I was about six years old that I didn’t play hockey in the months from September through December. But I got to hang out with my family and my kids a little more and that was a lot of fun. Then again, you can only play this game for so long, so I am grateful that we have an agreement and that we'll be playing again.

TFK:

What did you do with your day with the Stanley Cup trophy?

ROB SCUDERI:

I was home in Boston, and we had some close family and friends over to see it. At night, my wife and I took it into the city to a couple of our favorite places and we had a good time with it.

TFK:

Do you have any good luck charms or rituals that you need to do before a game?

ROB SCUDERI:

I don’t have any good luck charms. I'm not a real superstitious guy. But I will get dressed the same way every day, just out of habit. It's more of a routine. I put on the left skate before the right skate. But if my left skate was broken and I had to put my right skate on first, I wouldn't freak out.

If you weren't a professional hockey player, what do you think you'd be doing for a living?

ROB SCUDERI:

I think I'd probably be a policeman or a fireman. My father was a policeman for 30 years in the suburbs of New York and I always thought it was an honorable profession because you serve your community and help others.

TFK:

What advice would you give to a kid who dreams of playing hockey professionally one day?

ROB SCUDERI:

You have to work hard and you have to enjoy it. A lot of people ask advice about how to get straight to the top. You have to enjoy where you're at and enjoy the game. At the same time, you have to work to improve yourself as a player. Even though we play at a high level in the NHL, all the guys still enjoy the game and still love to play.

TFK:

What do you plan to do when you retire from hockey?

ROB SCUDERI:

I love the game and I would love to stay involved in some way, maybe through scouting or coaching. I would also like to stay home. I've moved my family around quite a bit during my professional career and I think I'd like to stay in our home in Boston. If I could do something in the game, but remain in Boston, I think I'd be very interested.